<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>A Work of Art by ralf</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24456313">A Work of Art</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ralf/pseuds/ralf'>ralf</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Close to Canon [30]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shadowhunters (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Clary Fray &amp; Alec Lightwood Friendship, Clary Ships It, Episode: s02e14 The Fair Folk, Gen, Humor, Missing Scene, very gentle bashing of shadowhunters worldbuilding</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 11:19:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,006</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24456313</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ralf/pseuds/ralf</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Clary sets down her charcoal and glances at the papers Alec is clutching like they've personally offended him. “Can I help you with something?”<br/>Alec scowls down at them, then redirects his gaze to Clary. “I hope so. You're good at art, right?”</p><p>[Set before/around 2x14.]</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Clary Fray &amp; Alec Lightwood</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Close to Canon [30]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/936036</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>157</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>A Work of Art</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>YES i know the title is horrible don't @ me, i'll change it if i manaage to come up with something better. also note this fic was inspired mostly by <a href="https://trashtumblertrash.tumblr.com/post/619816783187247104/f-f-f-fight-banners-by-race-also-known-as-alec">this post</a> and i refer to it as the “Clary&amp;Alec bonding over curtains ahahaha” fic XD</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>A knock on the door frame drags Clary from the depths of her painting trance. She blinks back to herself for a moment, then she turns and is surprised to find Alec lingering awkwardly in the open door, clutching a stack of papers like they've personally offended him.</p><p>“Hey Alec,” she greets, shooting him a small smile. “Come in.”</p><p>He does, and Clary sets down her charcoal, brushing off her hands. Glancing at the papers curiously she asks, “Can I help you with something?”</p><p>Alec scowls down at them, then redirects his gaze to Clary. “I hope so. You're good at art, right?”</p><p>She side-eyes the easel she's literally standing right in front of and that displays a sketch that is more than decent despite its half-finished state, but refrains from sassing Alec. His stranglehold on those poor papers tells her it's probably not the best time for teasing. “Yeah, you could say that. Why, did you want to draw something?” Immediately she wonders if Alec needs help romancing Magnus with an arty gift and suppresses a laugh. It puts Alec's frustrated frown into endearing perspective.</p><p>“It's about the Downworlder Cabinet Meeting,” Alec says, effectively crushing Clary's romantic dreams for him. Of course it's work-related. She should have known better.</p><p>Alec has been fretting about arranging everything into perfection for this evening from the moment he had the idea. Catering, decorations, furniture, invitations. Clary thought everything was already decided and prepared, but apparently there's still some last-minute concerns to take care of. She feels both flattered and nervous that Alec would seek <em>her</em> support for that.</p><p>“The Institute is full of runes. On the walls, the floor, everywhere,” Alec continues. “There's that whole power imbalance between Shadowhunters and Downworlders anyway, so it's probably not ideal to make everyone feel like we're on equal footing. I thought it would be nice to have some decoration represent each of the factions, to show that despite meeting in Shadowhunter territory we still meet on eye level.” He looks at the papers again. Clary wonders if she can get away with snatching them out of his hands because the suspense is slowly killing her.</p><p>“I thought about hanging banners, on the wall next to the table. But...” Alec trails off with a frown.</p><p>“You're lacking inspiration?” Clary hazards a guess.</p><p>Alec nods grudgingly. “I had some ideas but I'm not sure about them. I don't want to accidentally end up offending the delegates so I thought I'd consult someone who knows about art.”</p><p>“You've come to the right door then,” Clary says with a laugh. “Brooklyn Art Academy dropout, at your service.” She gestures to the papers. “Let's see what you've got so far.”</p><p>Alec hands her the papers, a shade of reluctance to his movement, and Clary wonders how bad it can be. She gets her answer a second later when she finally lays eyes on Alec's “drafts” and has to bite her lips so hard she must be drawing blood in her attempt to hold in a laugh, because it is <em>so much worse</em>. Alec surely has many talents but art is clearly, painfully not one of them.</p><p>There's a grid that vaguely looks like a construction site and that she thinks is supposed to be the DuMort, an earnestly detailed sketch of a workbench full of weird stuff that she's pretty sure has its real life counterpart somewhere in Magnus's loft, and a very strangely shaped potato that might dream of one day resembling the moon.</p><p>“What do you think?” Alec asks anxiously.</p><p>“It's a start,” Clary says and she truly deserves an award for delivering this answer with a steady voice and a straight face. Alec is trying so hard – this whole endeavor is exemplary for all the thankless work he puts into everything and so rarely gets recognition for – that she can't honestly tell him what she thinks of his efforts from an artistic point of view. It's the thought that counts, after all.</p><p>“Please tell me you can make this into something good,” Alec pleads, apparently not completely unaware of his artistic limitations.</p><p>“Sure!” Clary answers quickly. “Don't worry. Just tell me what format you want for the banners and I'll handle it.” It's her afternoon off and she's in a drawing mood anyway, so. As much as she wishes she didn't have to put her current project on hold it's a small sacrifice, all things considered.</p><p>“Three-to-eleven. And <em>thank</em> you,” Alec says intently. “I wouldn't trust anyone else with this.”</p><p>Clary blinks at those words, knowing that Alec wouldn't say them if he didn't mean them wholeheartedly. “I won't let you down,” she assures. “Just tell me-- wait, the meeting is <em>tonight!</em><span>” she exclaims. “How </span>will you have time to get those banners done?”</p><p>Immediately she pictures Alec threading yarn through a needle and attempting to hastily stitch a banner before the meeting starts.</p><p>Alec waves her concern away. “That's no problem. There's a warlock who specializes in textile manufacturing, Amália Thread. Izzy regularly meets up with her to get her designs tailored. I called her earlier to make an appointment.”</p><p>Clary gapes at him. “Izzy designs clothes?”</p><p>“Yeah.” Alec grins. “She's never mentioned it? Something about stuff off the rack not being up to her standards.” He shakes his head fondly. Clary wonders, not for the first time, where Shadowhunters buy all their gear anyway. Or their canteen supplies. Or their technology.</p><p>She forcefully shuts down that line of thought because that way lies madness.</p><p>“I'll get to it as quickly as possible then,” she says, making a mental note to ask Izzy about her designing as soon as she's done.</p><p>“Thanks again, Clary. I'll repay you for this.” He looks so serious that Clary can't help patting his shoulder.</p><p>“It's fine, really,” she insists.</p><p>Alec nods in his <em>I acknowledge what you say but I'll still do what I want</em> way and leaves her to it.</p><p>Clary smiles after him, then grabs a pencil, a piece of paper and starts sketching.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Clary doesn't realize Alec meant <em>literally</em> repaying her until she finds a bill on her desk a day later. It's officially looking with the Institute's letterhead and everything, and details a free-lance service provided for the Institute's Interior Design Department.<br/>She does a double-take when she sees the figure allotted to her commission and wonders if Alec even knows how little artists usually get paid. And if he made up this so-called Interior Design Department just for this charge or if it's really a thing. That would actually explain a lot... while at the same time raising <em>so many questions</em>.</p><p> </p><p>Things I failed to include in this fic:<br/>1) Jace was the one who gifted Clary her easel because he's the best boyfriend.<br/>2) Clary thinking about the round table Alec prepared for the meeting and making a King Arthur reference.</p><p>hope you enjoyed!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>